Adult hits

Adult hits (sometimes also called variety hits) is a radio format that draws from a wide variety of different musical genres. Most adult hits stations play a mix of rock, pop, pop rock, soft rock, classic rock, adult contemporary, and new wave hits as well as select oldies hits, predominantly drawing on music from the late 1960s through the present day. Adult hits is akin to classic hits, although the classic hits format uses a slightly older and often narrower playlist (1960s to 1980s).

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Forerunners of the adult hits format appeared on radio during the 1970s. At the time, enough of a backlog of popular music from the rock and roll era had developed to support a format based on them; oldies stations, however, were still very rare, and instead, stations that did not want to bind themselves to the current top 40 playlist would mix in current hits with the hits of the past two decades. This hybrid format began to fall out of favor in the 1980s as self-contained oldies stations rose to prominence. The Adult Hits format dates back to 1990 when 98.9 WMMO was launched in Orlando, Florida.[citation needed] Adult hits stations target adults 25-54, and more specifically at 35- to 44-year-olds.

A large number of adult hits stations utilize male names as their branding. The practice was popularized by the franchised Jack FM and Bob FM brands, and has been widely imitated with other common male names.

A variation of adult hits, known within the industry as Traditional Country, has made inroads into the country format, typified by the "Hank FM" and "Nash Icon" stations. A Spanish-language version, "Jose FM", is syndicated by Entravision.

Due to its relatively free-form nature, the adult hits format can be easily automated. This means that the station can be run with little to no on-air personalities, leaving only staff involved in station operations, advertising sales, and promotional presences. An adult hits station may openly promote that it features "less talk" and more music than other stations in their market.